Cutter for wood-splitting machines



(No Model.)

W. M. HALL.

GUTTER FOR WOOD SPLITTING MACHINES.

" Nd. 259.010; Patented June 6, 1 882.

Invehfor,

* UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

WILLARD M. HALL, OF WORCESTER, ASSIGNOR TO EDWIN A. HILDRETH, OFHARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS.

CUTTER FOR WOOD-SPLITTING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,010, dated June6,1882.

Application filed February 21, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, WILLARD M. HALL, ofWorcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gutters forWood-Splitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of woodsplitting machines in whichthe wood to be split is held upon a table by the hands of the operatorwhile the wood is presented to the action of a single knife driven bymechanism provided for the purpose.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and attachmentof the knife-edge to the supporting ax-head to which it is attached insuch a manner that the ax-edge can easily be removed to be ground, orfor the insertion of a new aX-edgc or knife, being firmly held in placeto resist the severe strain to which it is subjected.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts, Figure 1 is a front view of a wood-splittingmachine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the ax-head,showing the method of attaching the removable knife. Fig. 3 is a sectionof the ax-head' and knife in a vertical plane passing through the edgeof the knife.

krepresents the ax-head or cross-head, which 18 driven up and down uponthe tracks or ways on each side of the cross-head, which tracks fit intothe grooves d in the edges of the crosshead. The driving-pitman isconnected to the pivots e 0. Upon the lower end of the crosshead 70 anextended bed is cast formed to support the knife-edge and flanged upontov the face of the cross-head k. The lower face of this bed is of awedge shape truncated, as shown In Figs. 2 and 3. The truncated wedge-shaped knife-bed cast upon the cross-head 7c is formed of equal length with the knife-edge a. A groove, 1), is formed in the truncated-edgeof the knifebed, leaving a square shoulder on each side of the groove,as shown in Fig. 2. The knifeedge a is formed with a tongue or shank, 0,having shoulders on each side of the tongue. The tongue 0 is formed tofit into the groove 1). Bolts f f pass through the main body of theknife-bed, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and are tapped into the top of thetongue 0. After the tongue 0 of the knife-edge a is inserted into thegroove b'the bolts ff are passed through holes in the knife-bed andscrewed tightly into the seats drilled and tapped into the top of theshank c. The shank c of the knife ais not intended to reach the bottomof the groove 1), but should be a little shorter than the depth of theslot 1), so that as the bolts f f are tightened they will bring all thepressure onto the shoulders of the knife on each side of the shank c.The shoulders on the knife a on each side of the shank 0 should exactlycorrespond with the shoulders on the bed on each side of the groove b.When the bolts ff are screwed down tight the pressure of the knife edgesor lips upon the shoulders at each side of the slot 1) will hold theknife so firmly in position that it will resist the severest strain towhich it will be subjected in splitting the toughest and most knottywood. The bolts ff are not liable to become loosened by the strain ofthe work, and the knife-edge will not be liableto work loose in itssocket. If from any cause the knife a should work loose, it can alwaysbe tightened by setting down the bolts-ff.

By removing the boltsff the knife to can be removed at any time to besharpened, or a new knife can be inserted in a few minutes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a wood-splitting machine, of the ax-head k, formedwith the grooved recess bin the lower edge thereof to receive the tongueor shank c of the ax-edge or knife a, bolts f f passin g verticallythrough portions of the air-head and into the shank c of the axedge a,the groove 12 being formed of sufficient depth to allow the verticalbolts ff to bind the ax-edge a firmly to the ax-head it against theshoulders on both sides of the base of the shank c, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

1 WILLARD M. HALL. Witnesses: J. HENRY HILL,

J W. WETHERELL.

